Head lamp with lens retaining bar



July 3 c. A. MICHEL 8 HEAD LAMP WITH LENS RETAINING BAR Filed June 7, 1955 awe/whom SUED UNITED eras OFFICE HEAD LAB i? WITH LENS RETAINING BAR Clarence A. Michel, Anderson, End, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Anderson, Ind, a corporation of Delaware ApplicationJune '7, 1935, Serial No. 25,393

3 Claims. (Cl.24041.5)

This invention relates to lamp structure and assembly together. The central portion of the more specifically to doorless headlamp structure outside plate i2 is pressed out in spherical form as applied to motor vehicles. to form a hollow ball it having at its lower The type of headlamps used up to the present portion an opening 16 therethrough in which is time have largely been provided with a separate positioned a hollow bolt NS for connection to a. 5

or detachable split or snap rim which surrounded supporting standard on a car. a the periphery of the lens and clamped over the Secured under one of the rivets l4 is an angu-. forward lamp body to hold the lens in place. lar member 2% which in turn supports a second With the smaller forward openings in the lamp and longer angular bar 22 whose end portion 2t bodies, and the more streamline shape of the is in the approximate axis of the parabola and ex- 10 same, the addition of an extra rim has detracted tends rearwardly. Supported on this end 24 is an from the appearance and also been more difficult electric socket 26 which supports the electric to apply so that it has been desirable to elim lamp 28 at the approximate focus of the parabola. inate the same. The longitudinal hollow opening 39 in the bolt It is therefore an object of my invention to- E8 is provided to carry electrical conductors 32 15 provide means for securing the lens upon the and in line with this opening is an opening 34 face of the lamp body without the usual rim. It in the body of the lamp in which is placed'a rubis a further object to accomplish the above in 21. her grommet 36 and through the center of whichsimple, economical manner having a pleasing pass the same conductors which are connected appearance. A still further object of my inin the conventional manner to the electric socket '0 vention is to eliminate as many of the conven- 26. tional parts of thelamp as possible and still A lens 38 is adapted to enclose the forward obtainasatisfactory illumination therefrom. portion of the body or housing and has a cut- With these, and other objects in view, the emout groove lil on its inner face which is adapted bodiments of my invention are described in the o fit ov r and conta s snug y W the-deform- 25 following specification and claims and illustrated able gasket 8. A metal strap 52 is hinged at its in the accompanying drawing in which: top portion to the outside of the casing, as shown Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a headlamp at 24, and is adapted to extend vertically down embodying my invention taken on the line l-l of over the outer face of the lens and support the Fig. 2. same in contact with the deformable gasket. The 30 Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the headlamp. lower portion of the strap is bent inwardly to Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section showing the closely follow the outline of the lower edge of connection between one end of the supporting the lens and then vertically downward, as shown strap and body. at it. A bolt 68 extends through the portion Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 of a 46 and threadedly eng s a angled be 35 modified form of my invention. which is also secured beneath one of the rivets Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a headlamp showing it, and extends downwardly parallel to the end a still further modified form of my invention, it. It will thus be evident that when the bolt parts being in section. 48 is threaded into the member 50 the strap will Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Figs. 3 and be pulled tightly across the face of the lens to t 40 4 on the still further modified form of connechold the same in position. Also located beneath tion in line with the embodiment shown in Fig. 5. the bolt 48, and adjacent the projected lip 46, is Referring specifically to the drawing, a headan angled member 52 which follows the contour lamp body 2 is of a parabolic shape having its of the lower portion of the strap up to the lower forward end open and being offset inwardly ad- Portion of the 1615- It then p j pw dly 45 jacent said forward portion to form an inwardly into a notch 56 in the lower edge of the lens directed flange 4 and then continuing forwardly which prevents the lens from rotating in its asto form a lip 6. Supported upon the lip ii is a sembled position. It should be noted in this form circular gasket 8 having a notch cut in its'rear of my invention that there is no separate reface to fit over the projecting lip 5. On' the inflector provided but the inner surface of the para- 50 side of the lower portion of the casing is placed bolic housing is formed of a polished surface a reinforcement plate Ill and on the outer face adwhich acts as a reflector and therefore eliminates jacent the same is placed a second plate l2. A sethis part as a separate piece. a ries of rivets l4, passing through the second plate In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, the body 55 in the lower section of the body, holds the whole of the lamp 2 has adjacent its upper portion a 55 Y 5 instead of being hinged to the body 2' is bent inwardly to form a lip portion 58 after following the contour of the lens over the top. In this form, if the strap is detached from the body by loosening the bolt 48, it may be entirely disconnected from the body when the lens is removed.

In Fig. 5 is shown a further form of my invention in which a separate reflector is provided and in this form the outside body or casing 60 carries, adjacent its forward open portion, an

annular flange 62 within which is positioned a reflector 64. Between the outer peripheral of the flange 66 of the reflector and the annular flange 62 are placed leaf springs 68 which tend to separate the two. Also carried by this peripheral flange 66 and facing forward or outwardly directed is a deformable gasket 19 which is adapted to bear against the rear face of a lens 12. The upper portion of the annular flange 62 has a forwardly projecting lip M having an opening therein which interlocks with the upper end of a strap 16. The strap 16 extends downwardly diametrically across the lens l2 and curls under the lower edge of the lens gripping the same. In the lowermost portion is an opening 18 ,30 through which passes a short angular bar 8!) which locks with the same and extends downwardly to support a threaded bolt 82 which engages an angled arm 84 connected to the body to interlock the lower portion of the strap and lens with the body. In this manner the lens is pressed against the deformable gasket Hi and held in close contact with it which action presses the reflector backward within the housing against the spring pressure of the springs 68 to give a tight assembly throughout.

Fig. 6 shows a slightly modified form of connecting the upper portion of the strap to the body of the lamp in a construction similar to' that shown in Fig. 5. In this case the strap 16' 5 passes vertically, diametrically across the lens structure and as it passes over the top thereof is offset inwardly, as shown at 86. It then has a reverse bend in it, as shown at 88, to interlock the forwardly extended inturn flange 9B of the body This, of course, has the same action as the interlocking between the forwardly extending lip l4 and the inwardly projecting end of strap 16, as in Fig. 5. It will, therefore, be seen that I have provided a simple and efiicient means for looking a lens structure to a housing by single means which engages over the exterior portion of the lens and only contacts a small fraction of the periphery thereof. Also in this structure I have eliminated some of the conventional parts and imparted their functions to the others.

I claim:

1. In a lamp structure, a parabolic housing having an open end, an inwardly offset forwardly extending flange on the open end, a ring gasket having a circular slot cut therein to fit over the end of the flanged portion and support it on the latter, a lens closure member for the open end and a strap extending diametrically across the outer face of the lens and connected at its ends to the housing to support the lens over the open end against the gasket.

2. In a lamp, a hollow parabolic body having an open end, a lens closure for the open end, a circular member of deformable material between the lens and the front of the body to form a tight joint between the two, a metal strap pivotally secured to the central top portion of the body and extending across the face of the lens and screw threaded means to secure the lower end of the strap to the lower portion of the body.

3. Lamp structure including an open ended casing, a lens seated at its periphery on the marginof the open end of the casing to close the same, lens retaining means comprising a single strap extending across the face of the lens with its extremities secured to the casing adjacent the rim of the lens, a rearwardly opening lamp bulb,-

socket within the casing and a narrow strap supporting said socket and extenchng inwardly of the casing from one side thereof in spaced alinement with the lens retaining strap for concealment therebehind.

CLARENCE A. MICHEL. 

